The Secret of Success
by selenis
Summary: Darien O'Reilly is your average heir to an industrial empire trying to work his way up. Serena Parker is trying to build her own company from scratch. When things go badly for Darien and he gets a job at ParkWest, will matchmaking friends get them tgthr?
1. Prologue

_Hey, hey! selenis here with the same prologue you have seen over at AI…  
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_Disclaimer: Insert standard one here, to the effect that I of course, do NOT, nor will I EVER own Sailor Moon (Even though I would be glad to!). However, this storyline is completely of my own imagination and I will be really P.O. if it is copied._

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The morning sun shone steadily overhead as the audience below them sat expectantly in their seats, waiting for the valedictorian to finish speaking. The sunlight glinted on three heads of gold as they sat together and eagerly anticipated the end of the speech.

"Oh my God!" one of them whispered. "I still can't believe that we're actually finished!"

"Relax Mina," another said as she tried to release her hand from the other's crushing grip. "We still have to endure the diploma ceremony and the endless parties after Grad. Not to mention that we will still have to be up on Monday morning and report in to work." She said with mirth in her voice, which belied the seriousness of her words. Mina just gripped her hand harder and tried to suppress a squeal as her friend rolled her eyes. The other person chuckled as the valedictorian ceased his endless droning and Mina practically bounced in excitement as the Dean began to present diplomas.

"Hard to believe she's actually getting her Economics Degree isn't it?" the distinctly male voice added in. This time Mina rolled her eyes in response.

"Thanks so much for the vote of confidence, Drew." He chuckled again in reply.

"Mina Alden." Mina fairly flew off her seat in excitement and her friends snickered when she almost tripped over her robes as she rushed up to receive her degree.

" So Sere, given any thought to that proposal I mentioned the other day?" Andrew asked as the two of them waited for Mina to return. Serena smiled slightly in response.

"Drew, it's a great idea, but where are we going to get the money to start this business? I mean neither of us is exactly rolling in spare cash. Its always hard enough to pay off student loans, who in their right minds would loan us any money?" She finished, clearly disappointed.

"Let me worry about that, Sere. You just work long enough to pay off your loans, and when you are finished, I'll have enough to get us started."

"From where, Drew?" Serena questioned quietly.

"Let me worry about that." Andrew said as he flashed her his innocent smile.

"Drew…." She began threateningly.

"I'll tell you about it later, Sere. They've reached the Ps" Andrew said as he sat back in his seat with a small smile on his face.

* * *

"Congratulations Dare!" a small black blur squealed as it launched itself into Darien's arms. Darien laughed in reply and wrapped it in a bear hug. 

"Thanks Raye!" Darien laughed as he hugged his sister. He scanned the crowd behind them, where happy parents were congratulating their children and sighed. "Father isn't here is he?" he asked his sister in a neutral voice. She looked up at his blank expression and sighed.

"No, Dare. I had to get Robert to drive me here. Father told me that he expected to see you in his office at seven o'clock Monday morning and then he and Mother," she spat the word out. "Left for a soiree in Greece." Darien sighed in disappointment and then forced a smile on for his sister's sake.

"C'mon you only have to endure her for a little while longer. You know how often the others have lasted, and you'll be starting university in the fall anyways." He gave her a small hug. "Let's go grab something to eat. Where did Robert tell you to meet him?"

* * *

Late afternoon sunlight spilled in through the large windows that occupied the wall on the far side of the empty room. "What do you think Sere?" Andrew asked as he swept his arm in a wide gesture that encompassed the entire room. 

"Andrew West! How in the world are we going to afford..." Serena trailed off as she fixed her partner with a glare. "You've been putting off that question since we graduated Drew. All the time you've said that there was a valid reason. I have waited patiently for over a year now! Every time we talked about this, you managed to change the subject or have an urgent meeting to attend. You're going to tell me now or…"

"Or what, Sere?" Drew asked innocently.

"Oh just tell her Drew!" Mina exclaimed. "Because I'll help her if you don't tell us how exactly you came up with enough income to pay for all this!" Mina's eyes flashed dangerously, her expression and posture identical to the blond standing next to her.

"You know it really is eerie to see you two looking like that. You know that you look too much alike…." Drew began nervously. He took a quick step backwards as they both advanced on him. "Ok! Ok! I give up!" He raised his arms in surrender. "You two have heard of Merot Incorporated right?" Two blond heads nodded in assent. "Well, you see, my mother married James Merot when I was about five years old. He adopted me and treated me as if I were his own son. So, when I told him about my idea for this new software company, well he told me he'd back me financially as soon as he approved of my choice of a partner and I had the initial figures worked out carefully. When he met you, two after the graduation ceremonies he told me to go right ahead and organize whatever I needed. Since we pretty much planned things out during dinner, he had the chance to hear about our decisions firsthand." There was silence in the room after Andrew finished talking. Both girls just stared at him.

"James Merot?" Serena whispered after a long moment. Mina burst out laughing.

"Oh God! And here we were thinking that you'd joined up with a crime family or something! We were concerned about you being forced to lose a kidney when we couldn't come up with results and here you are rolling in cash!" Andrew stared at her in shock.

"You thought I joined up with a crime family?" Serena started laughing at the crazy expression he wore.

"That was Mina's idea not mine! She was so convinced that you'd started dealing with the mafia!"

"Hey! I didn't see you disputing my ideas!" She glared at her friends who were trying not to collapse on the floor laughing. "It could happen!" she said indignantly, which only caused them to laugh harder. Finally when they both calmed down, Drew put on a solemn face and said,

"Ladies, here's to ParkWest Enterprises!" in a grave tone. Which only caused the two women to look at each other and laugh hysterically.

* * *

In the glare of a computer lab, Darien O'Reilly sat staring at a section of programming that seemed to blur before his eyes. Groaning, he lay his tousled black head down on his arms and took a break. The very place he was in reminded him of the Monday morning after his graduation, when he was summoned to appear before his father. 

"Darien," his father began before he was even seated. "Your grandfather and I have built this corporation based on our own hard work and skills. Before I can give you your proper seat on the board, you must prove to us that you have what it takes to make it in the competitive business world. This is why you will start from the bottom and work your way up. I have arranged for a position in our computer-programming department, since you minored in computer science. You will start tomorrow at eight a.m." And with those words of dismissal Fionnbarr O'Reilly turned back to his work, ignoring his stunned son. Darien remembered going home that evening to visit his sister and telling her about the circumstances of his new "career". Raye was betrayed on his behalf.

"You're the next in line for the company! How can he make you work from the bottom up? Everyone will know what Father is making you do! You'll get no respect from the other workers and they'll try their hardest to make your life miserable! They already do it to me at school! I have to work twice as hard as anyone else to get anywhere because they all think that Father is paying for my grades! Even the teachers never cut me any slack!"

"Raye! Raye, calm down!" Darien said to his sister, who was turning a bit red in the face. "It can't be that bad!" Raye stared at him and pronounced with a grim chuckle,

"Just you wait Dare, just you wait and see."

Upon this review of the event, Darien had to conclude that Raye had been entirely correct. Not only was his life at O'Reilly Industries the product of one disaster after another, he suspected that someone was behind the results of his spectacular failure over the past year and a half. Which was the reason that he was here late at night, he reminded himself and he raised his weary head to stare at the screen once more.

* * *

_Aaaaaaannnnnnnndddd... that's it for now! _


	2. Chapter One

_Oh yeah, I DON'T own SM, though God I wish I did...._

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The great oak office door slammed against the wall with such force that even the implacable Fionnbarr O'Reilly was taken entirely by surprise. Looking up from the stacks of forms that cluttered the desk, he acknowledged his only son's presence with a mere raised eyebrow. Darien on the other hand, held his body in a stiff pose and threw a glance of pure hatred mingled with disgust at his father from where he stood in the doorway, arm still holding the door against the wall.

"Yes son? Was there anything in particular you wanted?" Fionnbarr queried, calmly turning his gaze back to his work.

"Actually there is," Darien spat out. He moved into the room and took a seat in front of his father. From under his other arm, he produced a manila folder, which he threw onto his father's desk. Looking up once more, Fionnbarr noticed that his son had a rather dishevelled appearance and clearly hadn't shaved in a while.

"What is this?" He asked gingerly picking up a corner of the folder and opening it slowly.

"That," Darien began, "is proof that someone high up the corporate ladder, has been interfering with my job here at O'Reilly Industries."

"Really son? Now what would possibly lead you to undertake such an investigation?"

"Maybe it's the fact that I cannot understand why I haven't been promoted in the year and a half I've been working here! My quality of work is beyond reproach, I can manage the IT department far better than I can manage the idiot who's currently running it, and there are people who are worse than I am at their jobs who have been promoted at least once!"

"I'm sure that it has nothing to do with any one of my board members as you seem inclined to believe," Fionnbarr said after a long pause. "Besides, how do you propose that I question the people whose loyalty to me and this company is infallible? Summon them all to the boardroom and ask them all if they're guilty, based solely on the fact that my son seems to think so? Both you and I would lose respect with them, and that is not something that I am prepared to do. If you seem to think that your work is beyond all reproach, why don't you take it up with the IT manager, I'm sure he can point out any flaws in your work, that is of course his job. And, those who deem that his qualifications merit that position have selected him for it. Also, Darien, _never_ bring accusations like these to me again without more proof than this," he tossed the folder at his son, "it makes you look petty and vindictive."

"Well then _sir_," Darien spat, "I guess I won't be bringing anything to you ever again. I am sick and tired of trying to prove to you that I am capable of running this company! I quit!" He stood quickly, glared at his father, wrenched the office door open and stomped off.

Fionnbarr O'Reilly, current patriarch of O'Reilly Industries was left staring at the door in shock before he gathered his wits and frowned at the chair in front of him. "So he thinks that he can get a job with no experience? People will think that he's been wasting the past year and a half. Find a job? Ha! He'll come running back to me for money in a month's time!" And with that last comment Fionnbarr returned to the heaps of paperwork on his desk

*                                                                                  *                                                                                  *

The sunlight slanted through the windows of the spacious office on the thirtieth floor. It was a high ceilinged office decorated in a classic, elegant style, blue with silver crescent moon accents. On the wall, over the mantle of the decorative and functional gas fireplace, hung a reprint of Van Gogh's Starry Night. On the wall opposite the windows was a pastoral scene depicting the Greek legend of Endymion and Selene. It wasn't a story she particularly liked, but the painting had been a gift from her mother and she made a place for it in her office. Along the walls were shelves lined with books on everything from business to her favourite fantasy novels. Currently, the blond-haired, blue-eyed CEO of ParkWest was gazing out over the San Francisco skyline, awaiting the arrival of a client. She seemed to be enjoying the beautiful montage before her but in actuality, her mind was focused on her forthcoming business venture. As if she had heard her calling, Raye Finn, Serena's assistant entered the office. 

"There is a Mr. Munroe here to see you Ms. Parker," she quietly announced. 

"Excellent," Serena cleared her throat once, twice. "Tell him to come in." She stood up from her chair, smoothed her skirt, checked her hair and makeup in a conveniently placed mirror, and moved to the centre of the room to greet her client. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she straightened her posture and tried to calm her nerves.

" Right this way, Mr. Munroe," Raye's voice could be heard in the silent office. "Ms. Parker will see you now." 

She ushered in a rather short, middle-aged man, with greying hair and sharp grey eyes. He was professionally dressed in a navy blue suit that was tailored to make him appear taller. Serena took all this in while stepping forward to firmly shake the man's hand. 

"I understand that you are looking for a company that produces practical databases…" Serena began as Raye closed the door to the office behind her. Raye smiled as Serena began yet another speech that would inevitably end with Mr. Munroe captivated with Serena's silver tongue and his company locked into a contract with ParkWest. Serena was a born businessperson, with a sharp mind and the innate ability to charm any person. Raye had seen people come in just to see what ParkWest offered and Serena was able to charm her way into signing them for anything. It was another benefit that ParkWest was far ahead of the competition in innovative computer software (AN: There is NO Microsoft…*mutters* stupid Microsoft*mutters*) thanks entirely to the industrious efforts of Andrew West and his ability to find the brightest minds in the computer industry. Raye shook her head in silent amazement as she made her way back to her desk. It was a well-worn tale at ParkWest that Andrew had managed to woo computer genius Amy Davis, fresh out of university and being offered positions at far more prestigious companies, into her current position as head of R&D at ParkWest. She had been sceptical of the company's ability to turn a profit, but once she had met Serena and Mina and heard the detailed plans that the three of them had made, she had been eager enough to sign on. The three of them had an ideal partnership, Mina was in charge of finance, Andrew, personnel, and Serena took care of the clients. 

So just what was the daughter of multimillionaire industrialist Fionnbarr O'Reilly, doing working at ParkWest? It certainly wasn't industrial espionage. Raye repressed a shudder at the thought that her father could have manipulated his way into ParkWest by using her, in order to turn a profit. 'It was a great thing that I found this job on my own, now I don't have to rely on him for anything. Well maybe tuition,' but she'd pay him back for that, it might kill her but she'd be damned if she kept any of his money. 

Raye returned to her desk to start some paperwork that Serena wanted. As she was halfway though retyping an extremely verbose proposal that Serena had worked out with another consulting company, Raye's cell phone shrilly pierced the calm of the office. Wincing at the high-frequency ring that she had chosen, she scrambled through her purse to find the damn thing. "Raye Finn's phone," she cheerily began, using the alias she had devised for work.

" Hello Raye! How's life on the 30th floor?" a smooth baritone voice asked.

"Jay?! Son-of-a-bitch!! How the hell did you get this number?!" Raye shouted. "You know what? Never mind! Just don't call me again!" She hit the end button and stared at her phone as if it had betrayed her. "How in the hell did he get my number?" she finally muttered as she turned back to her typing. Just then, her phone rang again and a thoroughly startled Raye almost dropped it. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.

"Raye, Raye, Raye. How am I supposed to hear your answer if you keep hanging up on me?" drawled the same voice.

"What answer?" Raye bit out.

"Whether or not you'll go out with me of course!"

"How many times do I have to say no? Do you not understand the meaning of that word? Now stop calling me, or do I have to come down there and pound some sense into you?" She said in a furious tone. Jay's only reply was a chuckle, until he added,

"Raye, if you do some pounding with me its not going to involve sense." Raye turned a rather interesting shade of scarlet, emitted an inarticulate howl of rage and jabbed the end button again. She ended up sitting there for five minutes, staring at the red plastic object and daring it to ring. She thought she'd won, and was reaching over to pick up her work when it rang for the third time. Taking a deep breath, she answered it.

"I thought I'd made it clear! You are to never call this number, Jay! Unless you want me to come down there and rip you a new—"

"Raye! Take it easy! I promise I won't phone your cell again!"

"Darien?"

"The one and only, dearest-sister-of-mine!"

"Oops! Heh, heh, I thought you were someone else," Raye sweatdropped. "So why are you calling?"

"What? I can't call my baby sister and check up on her? Besides if you're having problems with this Jay—"

"Its nothing I can't handle," 'With a little beating.' "Its fine," Raye said quickly.

"Alright, well how about some lunch then? Say, Marché? Twenty minutes?" (AN: Mmmmm…. Movenpick has good food….)

"Sounds good to me, you're buying though!" On the other end of the line, Darien rolled his eyes.

"When have you _ever _bought _me_ lunch?"

"What else are older brothers for? Besides you're the one who's done school." Darien rolled his eyes again.

"Right. So, Marché, twenty minutes. Don't be late!" Darien paused, "Oh and Raye, go easy on that guy. I'm sure he has **no** idea what he's getting himself into." Darien chuckled and hung up. Raye stuck her tongue at her phone even though she knew her brother couldn't see her. Then she glanced at the clock on her computer screen, 12:15. It would take her the better part of twenty minutes to get there on time. Saving and closing her application window, Raye tidied up, grabbed her coat and scribbled a note for Serena before heading towards the elevators.

*                                                                                                          *                                                                                              *

Down one floor, in R&D, Jay Geddes hung up the phone with a grin. It had been almost too easy to get into Amy's office and find Raye's cell number in her day planner. It was a good thing that Amy succumbed easily to Zach's charms. There was a long-standing pool down in R&D as to when Zach and Amy would hook up, and the pot kept getting larger. Jay heard voices approach the office and Zach say, " Let me get the door for you Amy." It was his cue to leave. Pocketing the piece of paper with Raye's call _and_ home numbers, he opened the side office door and pulled it shut at the same time Zach closed the front one. 

Several minutes later, Zach nonchalantly strolled towards Jay with his short hair mussed and his shirt wrinkled. Jay arched an eyebrow at his friend who grinned and replied, "I never kiss and tell." Jay grinned and rolled his eyes. "So, did you get what you needed?" Zach asked as they made their way to their computer terminals.

"Yeah, and I got her real worked up." Jay said with a mischievous chuckle.

"You never stop, do you?"

"It's the thrill of the hunt that attracts me my friend, the thrill of the hunt." Zach snorted.

"Whatever. You better pray she doesn't get really pissed of at you. I heard that Davies lost a few teeth when he got on her bad side. That one has one mean right hook."

"I think I can handle her."

"If you say so. Don't say I didn't warn you."

*                                                                                  *                                                                                              *

Darien got off the cable car in front of the restaurant and quickly crossed in front of it. He managed to snag a table on the patio and listened with a smile as the hostess explained the concept of the restaurant to him. After grabbing a freshly squeezed orange juice, he stretched out in the sun and patiently waited for his sister. For once, he didn't have to wait long as a sudden shadow blocked his sunlight. Opening his eyes, he caught sight of a petite woman in a red coat panting heavily. "Hey! I'm impressed; you're only ten minutes late this time! What'd you do? Run all the way over here?" Raye collapsed in her seat and stuck her tongue out at her older brother.

"Be glad I got here at all. I swear I was almost run over by a bus!"

"Somehow I think that the bus would have been in worse condition"

"Hah-hah. What wit. Listen, can we get something to eat before I collapse of starvation?" Raye's stomach rumbled in agreement. Darien laughed and stood up.

"After you," he said with a bow and a flourish.

When they finally reached the table again, and started eating, Raye looked over at her brother. "So, how's life at O'Reilly Industries going?"

"Oh God, Raye, could you swallow _before_ you start talking to me? I swear I don't know where you got your table manners. You never used to do this at home." Raye swallowed her large portion of food.

"In front of **our** father? Yeah, right, like I wanted to get lectured to death about how children should be neither seen nor heard?"

"And yet you still managed to fight with him over _everything_ else?" Raye smiled back.

"You're evading my question!" She said with cheerful menace.

"What question was that?" Darien asked innocently.

"What's it like working at ORI?"

"About what you'd expect, Raye."

"That bad huh?" 

"Well its not that bad anymore."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I'm not working there anymore." Raye's jaw dropped in mid-chew. "Raye, that's disgusting! I can see your half-digested omelette."

"Not—working—there?" Raye asked, clearly stunned. "Then—where _are_ you working?"

"Nowhere at the moment. I started looking for a job a couple weeks ago. I've had a few interviews, but nothing's panned out yet. With my double degree, I'm sure that it won't be that hard to find one."

"And you waited this long to tell me? Why exactly did you leave ORI?" Raye asked, positive something was wrong between her brother and father. Darien sighed.

"You were right about the way the employees treated me. I was an outcast. They never gave me the benefit of the doubt. Not once!" he spat bitterly. "Then when I thought about it a while, I realized something was wrong. There was no reason for me to be stuck in the same position for so long. So, I did a little digging around on the company intranet and databases on my own time and there were odd commands coming down the chain. Someone on ORI's Board of Directors was making sure I got nowhere. I took what little proof I could gather to Father, and he told me I was being 'petty and vindictive'. I decided that was the last time I let him push me around. It's my life and I don't need his job. I told him I quit, and that was it." Darien was clenching the tablecloth in front of him so hard, his knuckles turned white. Raye reached out and unclenched his hands for him, patting them to help get the blood flowing again, and to calm her brother down.

"You did the right thing Dare. You let him control you for too long. But, now you're free of him," she said in a low voice. "Let it go. Let all the anger go. He isn't worth it. He never was."

"How'd you get so wise little sister?" Darien asked in a strained voice.

"Long, hard uphill battles for my own freedom, Dare. Welcome to the real world." The two sat in silence for a while, lost in thoughts and memories.

"Things would have been so much easier if Mother was still alive," Darien said quietly. "She could always make father see reason."

"I wish I could remember more about her. All I can remember was that she always smiled, and I felt safe when I was with her."

"She would have raised you right, Raye—" Darien whispered.

"You did alright, big brother," Raye replied as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. "Enough of this," she said abruptly and smiled shakily at her brother. "It's time to celebrate your new life! Let's go get drunk!"

"In the middle of the afternoon? Don't you have a job to get back to?"

"Oh, yeah…. Oh my God! I have to get back now! We'll postpone this until tonight then! Pick me up at 9:00?" Raye yelled over her shoulder as she vaulted over the little fence that marked the restaurant boundary and dashed down the sidewalk. "Oh, and thanks for lunch!" Darien shook his head and turned to pay the bill.

*                                                                                              *                                                                                              *

Serena smiled and shook Mr. Munroe's hand a final time as the stood in the doorway of her office.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you Ms. Parker," the man grinned. Serena stood there watching him board the elevator, and with a final wave, the doors shut in front of him and Serena let the smile drop from her face. Pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to alleviate some of the stress of her headache, she looked towards her secretary's desk. Raye was conspicuous in her absence, there was no sign of any work on her desk and even her computer monitor was turned off. In fact, the only thing that seemed out of place was the blazing red note stuck to said computer monitor. Serena walked over to the desk and pulled the note off the screen to read it.

Sorry to leave without telling you first, but you were in a meeting! Went out to lunch with an old friend. Be back in about an hour! ~Raye Finn~

Serena felt another smile creep onto her face. Raye Finn was a godsend, the best secretary that Serena could have hoped to find. Sure, she was still in university and therefore had to be at classes during the day, but the work she did made up for that. Besides there was always Lita Spenser, Andrew's secretary/ company receptionist, who was willing to take up the slack during Raye's classes. Raye and Lita seemed to have a knack for organizing things in the most convenient way possible, for which Serena was truly grateful since she could barely file things alphabetically. But it wasn't that alone, at 22, Raye was the youngest person on the 30th floor, where ParkWest's HQ was, and she seemed more like a younger sister than an employee. She had an incredibly outgoing demeanour, although Serena still felt as though something was missing from Raye's life. Was it her lack of boyfriend? 'No, I will not dredge up that hurt,' Serena thought to herself. Besides, she'd seen the way Raye smiled wistfully when Mina came over to chat when she had little work—Serena broke free from her reminiscing with a start. 'That progress report from R&D was supposed to come up today. Wonder what Amy's working on now?' And it was back to business as Serena strode to her office and shut the door with a click.

*                                                                                                          *                                                                                              *

Humming along with the muzak in the elevator, Raye tried to wait patiently for the doors to open and expel her from "The Chamber of Weirdness" as she liked to call it. Unfortunately, patience was not one her virtues, but with a final ding, the doors opened and Raye sauntered out of the blue, vine-covered and mirrored express elevator. That many cool colours in a confined area drove her crazy. Shuddering delicately, she waved hello to Lita who was occupied on the phone. Lita waved wildly to get her attention again and held up a finger as she finalized an appointment with someone.

"Thursday at 9:00 am. Good? Great! See you then!" Lita hit a button on the modified switchboard and ended the call. "I'm glad I caught you Raye!" Lita waved her closer. "Ok huge secret! Mina and Andrew want to hold a surprise party for Serena's birthday on Friday. I'm supposed to tell you about it," she whispered.

"Uh, Lita?" Raye asked when her friend had turned back to her work with a dismissive smile. "_Where_ is it?"

"Oops! Heh-heh! Totally slipped my mind! Here of course, where else could Mina and Andrew get her to go? She works entirely too hard!"

"That's true, so, here, Friday, what time?" 

"Er…Regular time? Mina thinks we should decorate the Conference Room, We're going to do that Thursday night."

"Need any help with that?"

"Thought you'd never ask! Of course we do! Have you seen that size of that room? And Serena almost never leaves the building until at _least_ eight!"

"Alright, well I don't have class that night, so I'll stay behind."

"Make sure she doesn't see you!"

"No problem Leets! I'll just spend the time in Mina's office catching up on work.

"Ok then! See you later!" Lita smiled and waved her away as she answered another call.

*                                                                                                                      *                                                                                              *

Darien smoothed out his cobalt blue tie and checked his hair in the mirror, one final time before heading out the door of his apartment. 'This is the last interview I've been called to. If I land this, I can stop worrying. And, if I don't get this…No, think positive! You will get this job! You will! You will get the job…' Darien chanted to himself as he boarded the streetcar.

"So Mr. Finn is it?"

"Yes, sir."

"I understand that you've applied for a position in software development?"

"That is correct."

"Mr. Finn, tell me, what experience have you had in this field since you left university a year and a half ago?"

"None, sir."

"None?"

"Yes, sir. I had to take care of the family business after my father took ill in my final year. The only experience I have had has been through my summer co-ops."

"And these places wouldn't hire you?"

"They are too far away sir. They are located on the other coast. I have family here in California, and I think it is best if I remain here with them."

"I see. So, you've had no steady job since school. What happened to your father's business?"

"I sold it, sir."

"Sold it?"

"Yes, sir. It was the best way to keep it and my family out of debt."

"Ah, I see that you have a double degree in Business and Software Engineering?"

"Yes, that would be correct."

"And you were still forced to sell?"

"Yes." The interviewer made a contemplative noise.

"I see, well, Mr. Finn, we'll certainly keep in touch, but I'm afraid we've filled up all our available positions. I'm very sorry." Darien nodded, not trusting himself to speak and trying to tune out the ringing noise in his head. 

"Thank you very much sir," he managed to croak out as he shook the man's hand and left the interview room.

Darien managed to get all the way out of the building before his legs gave out from under him. He hadn't stood a chance in that interview, like he hadn't at any of the others. The truly unfortunate thing was that he had desperately needed that job, heck, any job. In the day and a half since he'd met Raye for lunch, Darien found out that their father had frozen most of Darien's bank account. What scarce amount he'd managed to save from his portfolio had gone to pay the last and this month's rent, groceries and bills. He was approaching the end of it far too quickly. 'I don't think I've ever been this hard up for cash in my life!' He thought to himself as he got up from the bench he was sitting on and boarded the streetcar with out a clear sense of where he was headed. 'I guess he decided to teach me a lesson.' Darien snorted. 'Perfect. He makes the time and effort to screw me over, but not to read my report or even listen to what I had to say.' Glancing out the window, Darien found he'd ended up near his sister's building. Thinking it must be some sort of sign; he disembarked and made his way over to her building. As soon as he reached the entrance, his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" He asked, a bit freaked out.

"Hi Dare, it's me! How you holding up?" There was a long pause and then a strained chuckle from his side of the line.

"Not that great. It's been a horrible day, week, month, hell even year. Take your pick, Raye." Alert to the strain in her brother's voice Raye asked,

"Where are you?" Another strained chuckle

"You'll never guess. In front of your apartment, where are you?"

"At work. Listen do you need to talk? No, wait, of course you do. Stay there, Dare. I'll be over in about ten minutes." Raye gathered up her stuff and knocked on Serena's office door. "Serena? I need to take a personal day, something's come up."

"Oh Raye, I'm sorry, hon. Listen you take all the time you need, I'll get Lita to help me if I need anything."

"Thanks Serena, see you tomorrow then." Raye headed for the express elevators, then changed her mind and headed to the reception desk. "Lita, something's come up. I told Serena I'd take the rest of the day off, but I'll see if I can get back in time to help you guys decorate."

"Oh hey, no worries. Take all the time you need. I'm sure Mina can wrangle some of the guys down in R&D to help us if she hasn't already." Raye smiled her thanks and headed into the waiting elevator.

Raye and Darien were seated around the coffee table in her studio apartment, cradling steaming cups of their favourite caffeinated beverages; while he filled her in on his job-hunt gone wrong and frozen bank account.

"I can't believe he did this to you! Where the hell does he get the nerve? As if you hadn't worked for any of that while you were at ORI?! Darien! He can't do this to you!"

"There's no use in getting that angry at it Raye. There's not much I can do about it now."

"The hell you can't!"

"No, Raye, I really can't. It would take too long and in the end, I'd just end up losing even more money. The best course of action would have been to get a job but I can't seem to manage that either."

"You'll just have to keep looking, I'm sure something will come up!" Raye said angrily. "I still can't believe he did this to you!"

"That's just the way he is Raye, nothing you say or do is going to change that." Darien replied with a yawn that caught his sister's attention.

"You need to rest Darien! You can use my couch-bed. I'll leave so you can get some shut eye."

"Raye this is your apartment—"

"Nonsense! You need the rest, and I need to get out of here before I break something, I'll be back in a couple of hours, and we'll have dinner."

"You're a good sister, Raye." Darien replied with another yawn.

"Yeah, I know," she waited until he was fast asleep before letting herself out quietly and heading back to ParkWest.

*                                                                                              *                                                                                                          *          

Raye jabbed the balloon at the wall in anger. It'd been over two hours and she still hadn't found any way for Darien to get out of the corner their father had forced him into. The balloon popped and Lita almost screamed in frustration.

"Raye! That's the twentieth freaking balloon! What are you doing to them?" Lita's frustration wasn't due solely to Raye's mistreatment of balloons but it was easier to deal with that then with Mina and Andrew's goofing off and Zach and Amy's flirting.

"I'm sorry, Lita," Raye sighed. "I guess I'm not entirely focused on the task at hand."

"Anything I can help with?" Lita asked as she began blowing up another balloon.

"Not unless you can—That's it! You're a genius Lita!" Raye jumped off the stepladder and headed over to where Mina and Andrew were pelting each other with glitter. "Mina! Hey, Mina!" Raye waved her hands in front of Mina's face and Andrew took the opportunity to score a good shot at Mina's head.

"No fair! Interference!" Mina yelled at him. "Yes, Raye?" she asked sweetly.

"Is it alright if I bring someone to the party tomorrow?"

"Sure! The more the merrier! Hey, they're not the reason you took a personal day are they? You sly devil you!" Mina winked at her.

Raye snorted. "Don't I wish? No, it was a regular old family emergency."

"Yeah, go right ahead, but don't forget to tell Lita, she's in charge of the catering." And with a grin she went back to stalking Andrew around the tables, they'd set up for the party. Raye grinned as well and returned to her little corner to help Lita finish off the decorations.

Right, so that's it! Um, don't really expect a quicker update for the next chapter. I seem to be stuck with how exactly I want to proceed and well my final exams are coming up so I haven't really had a chance to write…. Ah well…..Read & Review!!!!!!

selenis


	3. Chapter Two

A loud buzzing noise filled apartment 2C, and the blond owner rolled over and hit the snooze button. "Just five more minutes, mom! I swear!" she mumbled in her sleep. Her black cat jumped onto the bed and began to purr loudly in her owner's ear. There was a weird thrashing movement and the blonde landed on the floor with a thump. She yawned, stretched and stood up, tossing her bed-covers back onto the bed. "Morning, Luna!" she said as she sleepily made her way into the bathroom.

After a long shower and a change of clothes, Serena headed into the kitchen to feed her cat. Setting a can of food into the auto-opener, she checked her fridge for anything to provide herself with sustenance for the day. 'Nada. Looks like I'm going to have to go shopping tonight.' Serena checked her watch, and then rushed back into her room to finish getting ready. 'Make-up, hair, shoes, keys, purse, briefcase…. water for the cat!' She ran back inside to fill up Luna's water dish. "Be a good kitty while I'm gone and guard the apartment will you?" she threw over her shoulder, Luna meowed in response as Serena dashed out her door and headed for the stairs.

Following the mad rush to the ground floor, she strode sedately out of the building and began the short 15-minute walk to her office. It was a gorgeous fall day and Serena briskly stepped along the sidewalk, neatly dodging the vendors and storeowners who were setting up shop. Serena smiled and entered the door of the nearest café.

"Morning, Serena! Your usual latte?"

"Morning, Iris! Make it a mocha latte?" she politely asked the cheery pink-haired barista.

"You got it. What's with the change this morning?"

"Thought I'd treat myself. It's my birthday."

"Oh, hey! Happy Birthday!" Iris said as she handed the doubled paper cup over to the sophisticated blonde. Serena took her drink and handed Iris a $5 bill. "Oh no, it's on the house! Think of it as a birthday present!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! You're our best customer!" Iris grinned at her. "Don't forget to go grocery shopping tonight, either!" she shook her head. Serena forgetting to go grocery shopping was a regular occurrence, even though she _always_ ran out of food by Friday. Serena waved a hand in thanks and blew at her gourmet coffee before taking a huge sip. Iris winced. Even after this long, she still couldn't stand the sight of Serena slurping up the scalding liquid. Exiting the café, Serena walked down two stores to a bakery and emerged with a chocolate croissant, also on the house.

She finally continued on her way to her office, content and prepared for another day at work. ' I think I'll get together with Mina and the girls at lunch today,' she thought to herself. 'I rarely see them outside the office anymore.' If there was anything Serena regretted, it was the fact that she had less time to spend with her friends now than she had when they were first starting up ParkWest Enterprises. Hours of meetings and strategy sessions left her with no free time of her own although she never forced anyone to adhere to her hours. 'After all, Raye is still in school and Mina has always had a boyfriend and Lita has that catering service on the weekends with her husband. They'd never be able to stand my hours and I can manage fine without them when I have to. Although for Raye it always means that she has more work to do in the mornings.' Serena entered the building where the ParkWest offices were located, waved to security and rode up the express elevator to the thirtieth floor. When she entered the well-lit foyer, she noticed that Lita was absent from her post. Although it wasn't that rare for Lita to be talking to other employees, she usually did it later in the day and she generally phoned other people from the switchboard rather than visiting them at their desks. Shrugging to herself, Serena turned towards her office and noticed several people missing. 'Ok, that is more than a little strange. Where is everyone? It's not as if I'm early or anything,' she checked her watch and a clock on the wall, "Nope. Not early at all, in fact, I'm kinda late.'

She picked up her pace and entered her office proper. 'Nothing out of the ordinary,' she thought as she looked at the papers strewn on her desk. She leaned over to check her schedule. 'Nada.' Serena frowned in thought for a couple seconds then gave up for a bit. Nothing made sense. 'Might as well check my e-mail or something,' she thought as she walked around to the other side of her desk and switched on her PC. Which was when she noticed the post-it ™ notes stuck to her screen. One was green, and the other yellow and both informed her that her presence was required at a meeting in the Conference Room as soon as she got the message. Serena froze. 'They _both_ left me a note? What _am_ I missing?' Serena dropped her briefcase on the desk, checked her hair in the mirror, straightened her clothes and proceeded to rush through the empty office space to the Conference Room. She was only two steps from the door, when it opened and shut behind Andrew. "Drew!" Serena said as she reached him. He jumped.

"Oh! Serena! There you are! We were wondering when you were going to show up." Drew said in an overly loud voice.

"Uh, yeah, you know me. I can never get up in time" Serena replied confused.

"Ha, ha! How true!" Serena shot her friend an odd look. 'What is up with him?' "But we should be heading in," Andrew said moving away from the door. "You're late as it is—After you milady," Andrew said standing beside her and bowing. Serena rolled her eyes and reached for the doorknob. With a simple twist-and-push, the door was open and before she had even finished taking a step, there was a shout of "SURPRISE!!" which caused her to stumble a little in shock.

"Oh my God?! Oh my God! You guys! This is incredible! You really shouldn't have!" Serena said to Mina, Lita, Amy and Raye, who stood by the door, as she hugged them.

"Oh c'mon Sere, it was nothing. You've been working too hard." Mina began.

"And spending too little time with us!" Amy chimed in.

"Yeah, boss lady! Besides it is your birthday and you deserve to take at least one day off."

"Right! So Lita made sure you had a clear schedule and the rest of us helped decorate!" Lita shot them all a series of dirty looks.

"Oh come on, we at least tried to help," Amy said. "It's not our fault you can decorate much better than we can."

"Yeah, decoration-nazi," Raye added in impudently, which caused Lita to smack her on the arm. "Ow! What was that for? You were!" At which point Lita stuck out her tongue at Raye and all the girls laughed.

"You guys, I can't thank you eno—" Serena began after they had calmed down a bit. "Is that—Is that?" she tried to speak again, her attention focused behind Lita.. Mina followed her cousin's wide-eyed stare.

"A table of presents? Yeah," she said nonchalantly.

"Presents?!" Serena almost squealed. Amy giggled behind her hand as Raye and Lita both handed Mina a $10 bill. Mina rolled her eyes and pointed to herself while mouthing 'CFO, duh!' as they headed towards the table behind a Serena who could barely suppress her glee at the sheer volume of paper wrapped goodies. But, Drew who led her away from her main objective thwarted her not even halfway there. "Drew!" she whined in a low undertone whilst smiling at the guests surrounding her. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to the head table, you have to make a speech."

"Oh God, Drew, you know that I'm terrible at impromptu thank-yous. They always come out sounding like pathetic, gushing drivel."

"Ah, its not that hard. Use a "thank you for coming", an "I'm touched by this gesture", a "I hope this tradition continues", a couple of cracks about your age, and a couple of toothy grins and you're done." Serena rolled her eyes.

"Great. Thanks for that astounding support and advice." With that sarcastic quip and Andrew's help, Serena stood up on the large table at one end of the room. She then "said her thanks", "told them she was touched", added a joke about how hard it was going to be to plan her 'over the hill party' and added few patented "Serena-grins". Unfortunately, after this "ordeal" Drew promptly whisked her off and forced her to mingle with her clients and employees.

Darien had followed his sister's directions explicitly after finding them stuck to his forehead that morning in her apartment. After a good night's rest, he was feeling a little better about his predicament, but really felt no enthusiasm for a party, which was exactly where he found himself headed. He had made a quick stop to his apartment for a quick shower and change of clothes and another to a boutique to pick up a present for Raye's boss. 'A present, which is supposed to suit a woman I've never met, and whose age and personality I don't know.' Darien shook off his thoughts and exited the mirror and vine covered express elevator to the 30th floor, where the ParkWest offices were located.

"Go past the cubicles, turn left at the hallway and it's the second door on the right," Darien read off the red post-it ™ note. "You can't miss it." Of course, there _was_ no way that he could have, because by the time that he reached the business complex, Serena's party had already been well under way. The sound of people talking floated out into the hallway, where other guests lingered in the quieter area. Smiling hello at the few that noticed him, Darien moved smoothly through the door and into the throng of people; on the look out for the head of dark hair and bright clothes that usually signalled the presence of his sister. Not seeing her immediately, he decided to head over to the present table and drop his gift off, then grab something to eat.

Five minutes later found him leaning against the wall drinking water and eating a sandwich as his sister strolled past in search of something to drink. At first, he didn't recognize her with her hair up in a French roll and clothed in a sedate business suit, but when she turned in his direction, sure enough she had a blouse on in her trademark: fire engine red. "Raye," he called over the crowd. Her head snapped in his direction.

"Oh, hey Darien! You made it!"

"Yeah, well its not as though I had anything better to do with my time," he commented.

"I know! That's why I made you come here!" With that comment, Raye grabbed hold of her brother's arms and dragged him into the crowd, heading toward a destination that only she knew of.

Soon enough, Darien was dragged up to a tall blond man and a petite dark-haired woman. "Hey Ames! Drew! This is my brother Darien O—uh Finn!" Darien raised an eyebrow slightly at the introduction. He had no idea that Raye had used their grandmother's maiden name as her surname, just as he now did. 'Why would she have any reason to change it? Well, something to quiz her on later.' He thought as Raye rambled on in her introduction. "So Ames, Darien here has a degree in Comp Sci from Berkeley, he might be able to understand that programming problem you were trying to explain to me! You know me Ames, I have no idea what to do with computers beyond typing documents and surfing the Net! Oh hey, is that Lita calling me?" Before Darien could do anything to stop her, she had dashed off to blend in with the crowd once more.

Sighing, Darien turned to Amy and gave her a small smile as her face lit up and she began to go through the problem in a methodical, engaging and detailed manner. Before long, Darien found himself involved in the problem, the seemingly simplistic problem that was throwing her current project entirely off balance. Half an hour and several napkins full of scribbled code later, Amy and Darien grinned at each other as they shook hands. They had finally found the simple yet complicated answer to Amy's frustrating problem. Of course, by that time, Drew had wandered off and Darien and Amy's drinks had long since been emptied. Darien offered to get them both another drink, but Amy had insisted upon coming with him after first firmly folding her precious napkins and forcing them to the bottom of her pocket. As they made their way over to the refreshment table, Raye once again waylaid her brother, this time with Drew in tow.

"Hey, Amy, Darien! Have you finished that boring discussion yet?" When Amy nodded that they indeed had, Raye continued. "Well then I'll leave Drew here with you Dare, Mina wants Amy and I to join Lita and her at the front." She dropped Drew's hand, grabbed Amy's and dragged her off. Darien was a little amused by her odd behaviour 'She seems unusually perky today, and she's in a perpetually good mood' She was also spending next to no time with her brother, not that this was a bad thing… 'At least one of us has found somewhere to fit in.' Darien was happy for his sister and from what he'd seen/heard of Amy she had made a good choice in her friends.

"So, Darien, how much older are you than Raye," Andrew asked good-naturedly snapping Darien out of his reverie.

"About four years," Darien replied with a fond smile.

"Hmmm… That would make you about our ages! I mean Mina, Serena and I… Lita's a bit older and Amy a bit younger," Andrew mused aloud. "But, anyways, I hear that you went to UC Berkely!"

"Yeah," Darien replied a bit confused with the subject change.

"Smart man! So what do you do now, if you don't mind me asking?" Darien froze, this was the first time that particular question had arisen, and he was at a bit of a loss as to how to answer it.

"Uh… I'm in between jobs at the moment. There was a family crisis about a year ago and I had to find time to take care of it, so I gave up my job," Darien replied with just the right amount of truth. ' "Gave up" a job is damn right, there is no reason I shouldn't have had a better job at ORI _several_ times by now. Its not as though I didn't have any job offers from different companies. That bastard made me turn them down to work for him.' Darien thought bitterly.

"That's brutal man. Have you had very many interviews?"

"Dozens! But they've all said the same thing. I just don't have the experience they require." He answered frustrated. "It's not as though I wanted to quit my job, but I did have to take care of something for my father."

"I understand where you're coming from, that's why I asked. See, um…we could use a little help down in R&D. We've been looking for another programmer. How would you, uh… like the job?" Darien just stared at him in shock.

"Oh God! Raye asked you to give me a job didn't she?" He uttered after a long and awkward pause, on his side at least. "Oh God, I am so sorry if I'd known that she put you up to this I wouldn't have come. I swear—" Andrew looked shocked and then amused as he stopped Darien in the middle of his sentence.

"Nice to know that you hate our company so much," he chuckled, teasing the ebony-haired man. "But in truth Raye asked me for nothing of the sort. The way I see it is that she knew Amy was having trouble with a program and she suggested that you help her solve it, which you did. I can tell by the was Amy's acting, as though she has the freedom to party now that work is out of the way. And if Amy Davis had a problem with the programming and _you_ helped her out, then you know exactly what you're doing. Since we need another programmer, and you yourself told me that you were free, I offered you the job. Raye had nothing to do with it. Although, she may have known I'd think like this; she's a smart one, your little sister." Darien looked sharply at Andrew.

"You could tell all that without even speaking to Amy or Raye?" He asked a little intrigued.

"It's what I do here at ParkWest," Andrew confided. "I'm in charge of personnel _because_ I read people very well." Darien was very interested in this comment. ' If he can read a situation this well, he must be _outstanding_ in the boardroom. I wouldn't want to be sitting across the table from him hammering out an agreement…unless of course, he taught me a few things first.' Darien mused, off on a tangent, while he processed Andrew's speech.

"Well?" Andrew asked.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to join the ranks of ParkWest?" Darien broke out into a genuine grin.

"Of course, do you think I have job offers falling of trees?" And with that mild quip, the men shook hands, laughed and proceeded to talk about other things.

Finally free of the manipulations of the ever-observant Drew, Serena set her sights on the table of presents. Her eyes darted left and then right. 'Presents sighted?' she thought. 'Check. Drew not sighted? Check. Girls keeping clients busy? Check. All systems are go, proceed to target.' Serena manoeuvred her way through the room towards the far end. 'Closing in on target. 12m – 10m – 8m – 6m – 4m – 2m. Target reached.' Her eyes darted around again. 'Perfect. No one in sight.' Giggling quietly to herself, she picked up the nearest package and gently shook it while holding it up to her ear. There was the telling sound of… silence. 'Damn it! People these days wrap their presents too well.' She placed the rectangular object back onto the table and looked around for something else to pick up. Her eyes landed on a small silver wrapped box, large enough to fit in the palm of her hand.

'Well, well. Just what do we have here? Jewellery perhaps?' Serena thought to herself as she scrutinized the package. She poked it slightly, satisfied when the package did not yield to her manipulations. Turning it over in her hands, she searched the surface for a tag of some sort. It was located on the top right-hand corner and was, 'Torn?! How did that happen?' Serena glanced over to the pile of other presents; they didn't appear to be tampered with. Internally shrugging, she focused her attention back on the package she was holding, squinting slightly in order to make out the remaining writing. 'Hmm, it most likely says: Best-- Wishes for a-- Happy Birthday. And then there's an unintelligible half of a signature. Bloody people need to take penmanship lessons.' Serena grumbled to herself as she tore open the present. The plain white box inside gave her a little trouble as she tried to pry the two halves apart; sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, she finally managed to open her gift. Nestled on a bed of white cotton, a silver and crystal starburst pendant glittered accusingly up at her.

Serena's next breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened in shock; she stared at the pendant for a good while before her eyes snapped up to scan the crowd of assembled guests, looking for a once familiar face; her own face expressionless. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of ebony black and intense blue, but before she could focus on it longer, someone moved and blocked her view. Her heart now beating overtime and her thoughts awhirl, she moved to the side and searched the same spot again. There was nothing. Serena closed her eyes at the flood of conflicting emotions rushed over her. It had to have been a mistake; perhaps, a figment of her overactive imagination. She had wanted him to be there, and her longing had made her see what wasn't there.

'The present must have been a disturbing coincidence,' she concluded. One that bore a remarkable resemblance to the pendant she had thrown into the Pacific years ago. 'A coincidence. That's all.' She repeated to herself as she closed the box and quickly moved back to the table, where she proceeded to mechanically shove it under the pile of presents and made sure that no glimpse of the white package could be seen. Not a moment too soon, it would seem as Mina bounded over soon after and pounced on the pile of gifts; as eager to see what there was as Serena had been, before she opened the silver package.

Soon after, the rest of her friends made their way over and Mina began handing her their presents one after another. From Amy: 'a day of pure relaxation and pampering' at San Francisco's best spa.

From Raye: a bottle of heavenly smelling perfume and a can of mace. The girls all stared at Raye, who stated: " It never hurts to have it handy!"

Lita's flamingo pink and green wrapped box was next, and it contained a cookbook of Thai cuisine and a promise that Lita would show Serena exactly what to do before any attempt to use it was made. Also tucked into the front flap was a note for an open-ended dinner reservation to one of the top restaurants in the city. "I know the chef from cooking-school," Lita casually added when Mina and Drew had oohed and ahhed at it.

Mina's was the last amongst the girls' presents and contained a black beautiful beaded ball gown. Serena and the rest of the girls gasped at the sight of it, and Serena stated that it was a pity that she wouldn't be able to wear it anytime soon, to which Mina just smiled mysteriously.

The absolute final gift from Serena's nearest and dearest came from Drew. The white wrapped gift bag contained a pair of black satin elbow gloves, a pair of black strappy heels, a matching set of silver earrings, bracelet, and hair combs and a pair of tickets.

"Those are for the Bay Area Annual Charity Ball in November, Sere. We need more presence than just Mina and I at the event this year, a lot of our customers ask where you are and this year you _have_ to be there. ParkWest could stand to have a stronger influence there, and who better than the CEO?" Drew began. "I know the reason that you haven't gone for the past two years Sere, but the company could really benefit from your coming there and mingling." He said softly. "You wouldn't even have to stay the whole night, only until you've mingled enough that our clients can see you out there making personal connections too. Your connections to them are purely professional and there are some people who perceive you as a bit too work-involved. And you are allowed to take a break, Sere, once in a while! The girls and I think that you've been working yourself too hard; you haven't even had a vacation since we started ParkWest. This would be the first step in getting yourself free from here again. Just give it a shot?"

Serena stared down at the tickets as she listened to Drew's quiet speech. His argument was valid, but the Ball would bring back some memories she'd rather keep buried. 'Still… it has been a long time,' she thought. 'Why shouldn't I enjoy myself there…or at least I can take this first step. It would be nice to have different memories of the Ball…' she thought wistfully. Serena nodded once, and then met Drew's eyes. "I think you're right, Drew. I think I should go to the Charity Ball this year." Mina gave a happy gurgle and flung herself at her cousin in joy.

'Perhaps this is the right decision after all.' 


	4. Chapter Three

_Here's a new chapter for you all to enjoy! More notes at the end_.

* * *

After ironing out the finer details of his employment, Darien walked out of the elevator and onto the 29th floor of the great steel and glass building that housed the ParkWest offices. It was his first official day and he was rather nervous. After all, here it would be an honest working environment and he would have to earn his own respect.

Pulling open the glass doors that separated the foyer from the rest of the R&D floor, Darien strode into the Lab proper. To one side were the terminals that the programmers used, to the other was a sealed and decontaminated area for the assembly of specialized servers, and ahead was a large set of rooms complete with whiteboards and large windows facing the San Franciscan skyline. Taking in the atmosphere of what was set to become his new home, he made his way to Amy Davis' office ready to meet her as his new boss. Quickly straightening his shirt and tie, he stepped up to the wooden door and knocked sharply. A faint "come in" made its way through the door and Darien made his way in. Amy was sitting behind a large desk spread with pages of her scribbling and was typing furiously busily transferring it all onto her computer. When he entered she looked up and when she noted who it was, she jumped up and strode around her desk her arm outstretched.

"Darien!" she cried delightedly. "Drew said you'd be joining us. It'll be a blessing to have another bright mind to help us with the programming. Especially one that can keep up with my stream of consciousness," she chuckled. "Sit down and I'll fill you in on the project you'll be working on." Darien took a seat on one of the leather chairs and Amy perched on the edge of her desk and she launched into a detailed account of the project and the client's expectations. Her dedication to her career was evident in her concise dialogue as she outlined exactly what her thoughts were on the code and her suggestions for it, leaving Darien with no room for extraneous thought. Soon enough she'd outlined everything that she could in her office and suggested a tour of the Lab accompanied by and introduction to the rest of the project members.

* * *

"—working on another project with Eric Canarvon. Oh! Here are two more of your project members, Zach Brooks is on the left and Jay Geddes the right. Guys, this is Darien, we just signed him on and he'll be working on the Harrison project too."

"Hello," Zach nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Jay grinned.

"Oh, Zach. You wanted to go over some files with me?" Amy said casually.

"Ah, yes, the Pembroke project files?"

"I believe so. Shall we discuss them in my office then? Gentlemen." She nodded at Darien and Jay.

Jay watched them leave and grinned again at Darien. "Yes, the infamous 'Pembroke Project' They've been working on it for six months now."

"Is it a particularly challenging project?" he asked naively, which caused Jay to burst out laughing.

"No, its their code for when they want to head to the office to mack. They have a relationship on the sly."

"Isn't that rather unprofessional?"

"Well, they don't let it get in the way of work and both of them seem to think the office'll frown on it whenever it gets out, but the truth is there's a pool going about when they'll actually start dating. Everyone is in on it, even the execs upstairs. I'm hoping it'll be soon, I still have about 2 months left on my bet and Mina'll rub it in if she wins."

"Mina?"

"Oh yeah, you probably haven't met her yet. Mina Alden, CFO of ParkWest Enterprises; has a reputation as a matchmaker and is cousin to the Serena Parker ad best friend of Andrew West." Jay sighed wistfully. "It's a shame she won't date me, she's a beauty that one. But that's alright. I'm working on another one of the girls on the 30th floor."

"Oh?" Darien asked amused by his commentary, "What's she look like?"

"Long dark hair, killer bod, fiery temper. She's actually Serena Parker's secretary. Her name's Raye, Raye Finn." There was a pause on Darien's part where he was unsure whether to laugh or—well laugh. Finally he ended up laughing so hard that tears fell.

"I see. So you're _that_ Jay," he finally managed to get out after catching his breath. Jay was staring at him confusedly. "I'm Darien _Finn_." Jay looked so startled that he had to laugh again.

"Oh man, I had no idea," Jay panicked when he regained the ability to speak. "I, uh-- I'm sorry-- "

"Relax, its fine. She really needs some one who can keep her on her toes and put up with her attitude. I should actually be concerned for your welfare; she seems to be rather pissed off at you."

"Really?" Jay was unsure how to react to this turn of events.

"Mmm-- You'll just have to work harder to win her over. But, and I'm sure this goes without saying, you hurt her and I'll hurt you," he began ominously. Jay nodded weakly. "After _she_ gets through with you, of course. You really _don't_ want to get on her bad side." Jay seemed amused and concerned at the same time.

"Zach told me she has a mean right hook."

"She definitely does," Darien mused. "Wait-- How does he know? What did he do to her?" Darien's thunderous expression had returned.

"It wasn't him! Davies from accounting, I think, did something to piss her off. But then again he was an annoying little bastard. He didn't last long after Serena and Drew found out he tried something with Raye. I heard he couldn't find another position for a while after it happened; Serena had a lot of people wrapped around her fingers, or so I've heard." Darien's sense of justice was appeased by this revelation, but his thoughts were interrupted again as Eric Canarvon made his way over carrying a file and a mug of coffee.

"Jay, can you pull up the code for this on the Project Room 2 terminals?" He asked as he handed Jay the file. "Darien and I'll make our way over there." Jay nodded and got to work, while Darien followed his Project leader, his mind focussed once more on his job.

* * *

The sunlight was slanting to the west as Mina was sitting at the huge desk in her office, perusing the accounting reports for the previous week. Stretching she decided to take a break and pushed back from her keyboard. Her eyes roved her desk as she leaned back in her brown leather chair, finally settling on a framed picture of her and Serena that was a few years old. She was hugging the other blonde around the shoulders, their golden hair mixing together and both of them were smiling at the camera. But if one looked closely, there was something missing from Serena's smile. Mina shook her head, recalling when she had confronted Serena about it. Serena kept alleging that she was fine that summer but everyone could tell something had happened. 'And she never came to me to talk about it!' But she had eventually caved and told someone, that someone being Andrew West. 'Well they say that every cloud has a silver lining and if this hadn't happened to Serena we wouldn't be here now!' Serena had been going to the SFU campus coffee bar regularly back then, and Andrew who worked there had noticed she wasn't her cheerful self. When he had asked her what was wrong she had broken down and told him the whole sordid story becoming a huge sobbing mess at the counter. Ever the gentleman, Andrew had allowed her to cry it all out and then given her some good advice about her situation. From then on they had formed a close bond which had happily extended to include Mina herself.

But even though Serena learned to adapt herself to the situation, there was still something missing from her smile. 'I _still_ don't understand his reasons for doing this to her!' Mina thought furiously. 'What could have possibly been missing from their relationship? I saw them together and they were perfect for each other.' She had been so sure about their relationship that she had even gone so far as to test him after they had broken up. 'I called in all of my favours and even after they all threw themselves at him, he still didn't even bat an eye.' He truly had been looking for something else, and Mina couldn't find fault with the fact that he had decided to tell Serena before he went looking for someone else. When it came down to it, she was angry on Serena's behalf but, she was also a bit furious that he had proved her wrong about their relationship. 'It had me wondering about all the other predictions I made. If I'd been so wrong about them, who else might I have been wrong about?' Sighing, Mina glanced at the picture again and shook her head. 'I'll just have to start working on Serena again, someone has to be able to bring the old Sere back.' Mina just wished she knew where to start.

* * *

Raye smirked to herself as she sat in her Business Communications class at SFU. Her manipulations had succeeded far beyond her intentions. She had expected Drew to ask about Darien's programming skills and then slowly make the connection to the free position that opened up. She hadn't expected him to actually be able to solve Amy's problem so quickly and effectively. But the upshot was that Darien now worked at ParkWest with Amy and Zach, which meant that she could see her brother as much as she wanted to and he was getting his life on track again, out from under the crushing grip of their father.

'I guess both Father and I underestimated his skills. I don't think we had any idea that he was that talented.' Shuddering at the realization that she had agreed with her father about something, Raye deliberately turned her thoughts back to her brother.

It had felt great to help Darien after he had suffered so long in the claustrophobic grasp of their father and since he had sheltered her from the same when they had been younger. He'd made sure she got to school on time, had the chance to go out whenever it was possible, bought whatever she wanted and made sure she didn't get spoiled. The last task had become increasingly daunting as the years passed after their mother's death. Fionbarr O'Reilly had married a string of increasingly young and beautiful women all of whom treated Raye as though she were a threat to their position. It had been Darien who intervened when a couple of them had wanted to send her off to boarding school and sheltered her from their wrath when she had ripped their clothing to shreds. Raye shook her head when she remembered how close she had been to being packed off that one time. Their "Father" hadn't even known that she was going to be sent to Europe and the only reason she wasn't was because Darien had convinced him that 'Wife #5' was a scheming cow. Raye scowled at the memory of 'Wife #8' who'd tried to seduce Darien, and who temporarily ended the parade of wives while they both still lived at the Manor.

Through it all, even when he had his own issues with their "Father" and current "Mother", Darien had been there when she had needed someone to rant at. And he had always had the best advice, seeming like a friend than an older brother at times. She never realized how much she'd missed him until he had called to invite her to lunch. Their lives had been so busy that they'd lost some of the special rapport they used to have; but now that he was back on her radar, Raye would take advantage of the fact hat he was close-by and bother him as much as possible. Chuckling evilly to herself Raye tuned back into the professor's droning voice and attempted to figure out where they were in the lecture.

* * *

Slowly and surely Time progressed along its well-worn path without the permission of its thralls. Before anyone realized it, a month had passed since Serena's birthday party and life had progressed as usual for most of the employees at ParkWest.

However, Jay Geddes, the resident mischief maker and amicable cad, was in a state of relative panic. He sat slumped over the keyboard at his desk frantically paging through his address book for any number that he had missed. Unfortunately he had been very thorough the first three times he had gone through it. With a groan he stopped his frenzied flipping and threw the book backwards over his shoulder, collapsing on his desk in despair. His sulking fit was interrupted by a question.

"Any reason why," there was a pause before the person continued. "'Jay's Book O' Ladies' hit me on the head while I was trying to work?" They continued amusedly.

"Its not 'Jay's Book O' Ladies'," came the sulky reply. "It's 'Jay's Book O' Ladies and Backstabbing Mates'."

"Ah, having problems on both accounts are we?" The person asked still amused.

"Well--" Jay gave it some thought. "Just on the 'Backstabbing Mates' part. None of them are free to help me."

"Help you with what?"

"My apartment situation." Jay heaved a martyred sigh. "My roommate is moving out at the end of the month and I can't find anyone to replace him." There was laughter on the other person's part.

"Can't you just put an ad out somewhere?"

"And be forced to interview people on my free time?" He shuddered. "I've been through that process. I ended up with a crazy roommate and _I_ was forced to move out. There's no way that I'm going to take that chance again."

"Alright, then why not put up an ad here, around the office?" Jay raised his head and looked over his shoulder at his visitor.

"You're sure about not moving in with me, Zach? We'd have fun!" he pleaded again. Zach blushed faintly.

"You know I would, but I'm not quite ready to move in with anyone yet." Jay raised his eyebrow at the wording and correctly assessed the reason for Zach's blush.

"Et tu Zacharias?" he proclaimed, clutching at his chest in mock agony. Zach rolled his eyes.

"You know Caesar was supposedly stabbed in the back, right?" he retorted as he left Jay's black book on his desk and made his way back to his own cubicle.

"Artistic Licence!" Jay cried dramatically as he furiously flipped through the calendar on his wall. 'Damnit! I only have three days left on my bet. I knew I should have covered that extra month. Who's nex-- I knew it! Mina's going to rub it in so much. I could have used the extra cash.' Muttering to himself he turned back to his computer and got started on his ad.

* * *

Darien was strolling through the aisles that separated the sea of cubicles at ParkWest when an object on the wall caught his eye. Glancing around he noticed several other pages taped up at irregular intervals. Confused, he turned back to read the one he was standing in front of.. He read it, started, read through it again and grinned to himself. Reaching up he grabbed hold of the 81/2 x 11" sheet and tugged it off the wall. He then headed down the rest of the aisle pulling the remainder down as he went. After rounding two corners he finally caught up to the blond man who was methodically taping them up. He sidled up behind him and cleared his throat. The man tensed and turned with an 'innocent' look on his face; when he realized who it was the look relaxed into a grin.

"Oh hey Finn," he greeted Darien while turning back to his flyer. Darien chuckled to himself at the man's audacity and nonchalance.

"So, are you serious about these?" he asked while waving his stack of flyers.

"Of course! I haven't been putting them up _solely_ for my own amusement."

"Well, that's great. You can stop putting them up now." Jay finished his taping and turned back to Darien with a mildly confused look.

"You haven't gone all psycho rulebook on me have you, Finn?" Darien grinned at the question.

"No. I just thought you should stop putting them up before someone gets their hopes up"

"Eh?"

"I've decided to take you up on you offer, pending a glimpse of where I'll be staying, of course," Darien punctuated his reply with another wave of his stacked flyers.

"Uh--You want to be my roommate?" Jay asked finally cottoning on.

"Yep. It'll be the perfect revenge."

"Revenge?" Jay asked confusedly.

"So, how much will rent be?" Darien asked, smoothly changing the subject. Jay then proceeded to fill him in on all the relevant information and they agreed to head over to the apartment after work so that Darien could see the condition of it for himself.

Jay headed back to his cubicle in a state of glee, as Darien tore down the remaining flyers and chuckled maniacally to himself. 'She keeps rubbing in how she 'got' me this job, _every time_ I see her. Peh, the next time she comes over for a visit, she'll be in for a surprise!' Darien reflected on the irritation his little sister felt when she spoke about his new roommate. He let out a blissful sigh at the scene conjured up by his imagination of their meeting. 'Oh look Raye! It's my new roommate Jay! You'll get to see him _every_ time you come over and eat all my food! Plus, I can keep an eye on their 'interactions'!' Satisfied that his brotherly duties were complete on both fronts, Darien continued his stroll in cubicle-land, a bounce in his step accompanying his cheerful whistling. As he reached he end of the hall, he caught a glimpse of his sister, chuckled evilly again and headed in her direction to set the stage for his victory.

* * *

Finally noticing that the glare of the computer screen was the only thing illuminating her hardly legible notes, Serena decided she needed to take a break. She had been working on this project since she had come in this morning; come to think of it, she'd worked on it yesterday morning, last night at her apartment and would probably take it home tonight as well. Rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands, she leaned back in her chair and swivelled it around to look at the view of the San Franciscan skyline at night. She sighed softly, the scene before her was a peaceful one with the lights glowing cheerfully in the buildings below her and the stars shining faintly above, and Serena was content to just admire it for a while.

It had been some time since the sight of the night sky had a calming effect on Serena, it was usually a painful reminder of what had been. Before her birthday, it had been painful to think about the reasons why, as it had led to recollections of memories she had painstakingly shoved into the furthest recesses of her mind. Now glancing across the star strewn heavens brought only a twist of longing and a faint reminiscence of loneliness.

'I have to remember that I have friends to depend on. I may be lonely, but I'm not _alone_, and that has to count for something. Letting go of him was hard, but no I have to make my way back on the dating scene, and that will be even harder.' Sighing, she glanced at the calendar on her desk, 'I still have a month to get a date to the Charity Ball, and so far there's none to be had.' She chuckled wryly, 'I suppose if worst comes to worst, I can always rope Drew into going as my date!' There was a pause as the thought sunk in. 'A month! That's not enough time! Where would I even start? Its not as if I have free time in the evenings to go looking for a date, not to mention that's not even my forte.' Shaking her head Serena thought about it some more. 'Mina _has_ been pestering me about a blind date. I think that would be the easiest solution, at least I'll be getting out there again and I can use these as a couple of trial dates to get back into the swing of things.' Recoiling slightly at the thought of dating at all, Serena leaned forward to rest her head on the glass and looked out at the sky again. She sighed softly, feeling a little lost and alone, and stroked the glass with her hand.

'Goodbye, Stephen.'

_

* * *

_

_HUGE thanks to Dare my editor who got this page edited the day I sent it to her via IM. Also, with finals coming up in a months time the next chapter won't be out 'til well after the hols. _

_Now, down to the WISE stuff...._

_Did you think the characterization in this chapter meshed properly with the other chapters?_

_Do the sudden changes to thoughts bother/throw anyone off? Should I stop using them?_

_What did you think needed the most improvement in this chapter? Any chapter?_

_And a couple of reviewer questions:_

_What would you like me to explain thoroughly?_

_In what way was the pace too fast/slow?_

_How was it boring to start with and what would you suggest to improve it?_

_Thanks for reading and reviewing! See you after the hols!_

_selenis_


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